Use of wireless connection loss to facilitate identifying and recording video capture location

ABSTRACT

A method and system to facilitate identifying and recording capture location of recorded video. A computing system determines multiple locations where a first wireless communication module and second wireless communication module have lost wireless connectivity with each other, as possible locations where a video camera may be used to capture video. The computing system then outputs, for presentation to the videographer or another user, a location-selection prompt that specifies the multiple determined locations as candidate capture-locations for a video that was captured by the video camera. Further, the computing system receives, in response to the location-selection prompt, data that represents a user selection of one of the specified locations. The computing system then records the selected location as capture-location metadata for the video, such as capture-location data integrated with the video or in a database relationship with the video.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This disclosure is filed on the same date as U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/288,019, entitled “Use of Location Lulls to FacilitateIdentifying and Recording Video Capture Location,” which is assigned tothe same assignee as the present disclosure, the entirety of which ishereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in thissection are not prior art to the claims in this disclosure and are notadmitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

In news production, it is common to have videographers capture video inthe field and to transfer that video to a newsroom for use. In practice,the captured video could be transferred as a live video feed to thenewsroom, where the video could be broadcast in real-time, edited,and/or stored for later use. Alternatively or additionally, the capturedvideo could be stored and perhaps edited in the field and subsequentlytransferred to the newsroom for further processing, broadcast, andstorage.

As a newsroom accumulates such captured videos, it would be useful forthe videos to be indexed in a meaningful manner, to facilitate latersearching for desired footage. One way to do this would be to record foreach video an indication of location where the video was captured.Provided with such location information, news production personnel couldthen conveniently search through an archive of video data for video thatwas captured at a particular location. Unfortunately, however, given thefast-paced nature of typical news production, it may be difficult toreliably record such location information for captured video.Consequently, an improvement is desired.

SUMMARY

Disclosed herein is a method and system to facilitate identifying andrecording capture location of video. The disclosed method and system canbe usefully applied in the context of news production as discussedabove, but can also apply in other contexts, such as to facilitatemanaging of personal or family video archives and/or managing of videorecordings uploaded to social media systems or cloud storage systems forinstance.

In news production, a videographer may move from location to location tocapture video for various news stories. In practice, for instance, thevideographer may travel in a motor vehicle such as a car or van tovarious locations, transporting a video camera and associated equipment,along with other news production staff. Once the videographer arrives ateach location where the videographer is to capture video, thevideographer would then typically exit the vehicle and remove the videocamera, and operate the video camera to capture video at that location.Further, as noted above, the captured video could be transferred to anewsroom as a live feed, or the captured video could be stored and lateruploaded to the newsroom for use.

The present disclosure leverages the fact that a videographer and videocamera would typically exit the motor vehicle at each location where thevideographer will use the video camera to capture video. In particular,the disclosure provides a mechanism for detecting locations where thevideographer and/or video camera move sufficiently away from the motorvehicle, and deeming such locations to be candidate video-capturelocations, so as to facilitate identification and recording ofcapture-location metadata.

In accordance with the disclosure, a computing system may detectinstances of the videographer and/or video camera moving sufficientlyaway from the motor vehicle by detecting loss of short-range wirelessconnectivity between a wireless communication module at the vehicle anda wireless communication module carried with the videographer and/orvideo camera. In turn, when the videographer or other user is reviewingor processing a video captured by the video camera, the computing systemmay then present to the user a list of the locations where the wirelesscommunication modules lost wireless connectivity with each other, andthe computing system may receive from the user a selection of at leastone of the presented locations as a capture location for the video. Thecomputing system may then record that location as capture-locationmetadata for the video, such as by meta-tagging the video with thecapture location and/or by recording the capture location in a databaserelationship with the video.

In one representative implementation, for instance, the motor vehiclethat transports the videographer and video camera may be equipped with alow-power wireless communication module such as a BLUETOOTH radio, andthe videographer may have a peer wireless communication module such asanother BLUETOOTH radio in a cell phone that the videographer carries ina pocket. While the videographer is in the vehicle traveling fromlocation to location, the vehicle's module may be wirelessly paired withthe videographer's module. However, each time the videographer leavesthe vehicle and moves a sufficient distance from the vehicle, possiblyto shoot video, that wireless pairing would be lost. By trackinginstances where the wireless pairing between the vehicle's module andthe videographer's module lost their wireless pairing, and determininglocations of those instances, a computing system could then convenientlypresent a list of the determined locations as a prompt for thevideographer or other user to select a location to be recorded ascapture-location metadata for a captured video.

Accordingly, in one respect, disclosed is a method that may beimplemented by a computing system comprising at least one processingunit, at least one data storage, and program instructions stored in theat least one data storage and executable by the at least one processor.In accordance with the method, the computing system may determine aplurality of locations where a first wireless communication module and asecond wireless communication module have lost wireless connectivitywith each other. The computing system may then output alocation-selection prompt specifying the determined plurality oflocations as candidate capture-locations for a video captured by a videocamera and may receive, in response to the prompt, data that representsa user selection of one of the specified locations. The computing systemmay then record the selected location as capture-location metadata forthe captured video.

In another respect, disclosed is a method that may be carried out bysuch a computing system. The method may involve the computing systemreceiving a video captured by a video camera operated by a videographerand the computing system receiving, from a first device associated withthe videographer, a set of location data that specifies a plurality oflocations where the first device lost wireless connectivity with asecond device. Further, the method may involve the computing systemoutputting a location-selection prompt specifying the plurality oflocations, to allow user selection of one of the locations as a capturelocation of the received video. In addition, the method may involve thecomputing system receiving, in response to the location-selectionprompt, a user selection of one of the locations specified by thelocation-selection prompt. In turn, the method may then involve thecomputing system recording the selected location as capture-locationmetadata for the received video.

These as well as other aspects, advantages, and alternatives will becomeapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading the followingdetailed description, with reference where appropriate to theaccompanying drawings. Further, it should be understood that thedescriptions provided in this summary and below are intended toillustrate the invention by way of example only and not by way oflimitation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an example arrangement forimplementing the present method.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are additional illustrations of an example arrangementfor implementing the method.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart depicting example functions that can be carriedout in accordance with the method.

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of another example arrangement forimplementing the method.

FIG. 5 is another flow chart depicting example functions that can becarried out in accordance with the method.

FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of an example computing system forimplementing the method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the drawings, as noted above, FIG. 1 is a simplified blockdiagram depicting an example arrangement for implementing the presentmethod. As shown, the example arrangement includes a video camera 12, awireless communication system 14, a computing system 16, and a user 18.Although these components are shown as separate blocks, the componentscan be integrated together in any of a variety of ways. For instance,the computing system 16 could be integrated in whole or in part with thewireless communication system 14 and/or with the video camera, and aportion of the wireless communication system could be integrated withthe video camera.

The user 18 may be a videographer or other person who operates the videocamera 12 or may be another individual, such as another news productionstaff person for instance. Further, the computing system 16 may compriseone or more computing devices, such a portable computing devices and/orservers. In the arrangement shown, the computing system 16 is arrangedto receive, or otherwise have access to, video captured by the videocamera and to thus hold video data 20 representing the captured video.In addition, the computing system is arranged to hold metadata 22 forthe video, with the metadata being integrated with the video as headerdata or the like, or stored separately but in a database relationshipwith the video.

In line with the discussion above, wireless communication system 14 isshown including a first wireless communication module 24 and a secondwireless communication module 26. These wireless communication modulesmay be BLUETOOTH, radios or other short-range wireless communicationdevices (e.g., WIFI or ZIGBEE radios) that are arranged to wirelesslypair with each other when sufficiently close together, and thus toestablish direct, peer-to-peer wireless connectivity with each other,but to lose that wireless connectivity when sufficiently far away fromeach other.

In practice, these wireless communication modules may be provided in amanner that reasonably associates their loss of wireless pairing with apossibility that the video camera 12 is being used to capture video. Tofacilitate this, one of the modules may be provided in or otherwise at abase object from which the video camera would typically or likely bemoved when the video camera is going to be used to record video, and theother module may be provided in or otherwise at the video camera or witha person or object that would accompany the video camera when it ismoved. That way, when the video camera or accompanying person or objectmoves sufficiently far away from the base object, the two wirelesscommunication modules may lose their wireless pairing, justifying aconclusion that such movement may be at a location where the videocamera is being used to capture video.

By way of example, as discussed above, one of these modules may besituated (disposed) in a vehicle that transports the video camera andvideographer to various locations, and the other module may be providedin the video camera or in a cell phone or other device carried by thevideographer who operates the video camera. That way, when the videocamera and videographer are in the vehicle traveling from location tolocation, the two modules would be close together and wirelessly pairedwith each other, which may reasonably support a conclusion that thevideo camera is not being used to capture video. Whereas, each time thevideographer takes the video camera out of the vehicle at a particularlocation and moves sufficiently far away from the vehicle, the twomodules may lose their wireless pairing, which may reasonably support aconclusion that the video camera is possibly being used at that locationto capture video.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are simplified block diagrams illustrating this examplearrangement. In particular, FIG. 2A depicts an in-transit scenario wherea motor vehicle 28 is transporting a videographer 30 and a video camera32, and FIG. 2B depicts an on-site scenario where the videographer 30and video camera 32 have moved out of and away from the motor vehicle28.

As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the motor vehicle 28 includes an in-vehiclewireless communication module 34, such as a BLUETOOTH radio integratedwith the vehicle, or perhaps provided in or otherwise at the vehiclespecifically for purposes of the present method. Further, the videocamera 32 includes a video camera wireless communication module 36, suchas a BLUETOOTH radio integrated with the video camera or attached to orotherwise accompanying the video camera. In addition, the videographer30 carries a videographer wireless communication module 38, such as acell phone or other supplemental device that incorporates a BLUETOOTHradio for instance. In practice, just one of the video camera wirelesscommunication module 36 and the videographer wireless communicationmodule 38 may be provided, but FIG. 2 illustrates both.

With this example arrangement, as shown in the in-transit scenario ofFIG. 2A, the video camera wireless communication module 36 is wirelesslypaired with the in-vehicle wireless communication module 34, usingconventional BLUETOOTH pairing for instance, thus providing wirelessconnectivity 40 between those two wireless communication modules.Further, the videographer wireless communication module 38 is wirelesslypaired with the in-vehicle wireless communication module 34, thusproviding wireless connectivity 42 between those two wirelesscommunication modules as well. In the on-site scenario of FIG. 2B,however, the videographer 30 and video camera 32 have moved out of andsufficiently far away from the vehicle 28, possibly to facilitate use ofthe video camera to record video, and this movement away from thein-vehicle wireless communication module 34 results in loss of wirelessconnectivity 40 and loss of wireless connectivity 42 as shown.

Note also that there could be other reasons for loss of wirelessconnectivity between wireless communication modules 24 and 26 that couldalso reasonably represent the possibility that the video camera is beingused to capture video. For instance, in the example arrangement whereone module is in a vehicle that transports the video camera andvideographer and the other module is with the video camera orvideographer, it is possible that the in-vehicle module 34 may bepowered by a power source of the vehicle and could lose power when thevehicle is powered down, such as when its ignition is turned off. Inthat situation, turning off the vehicle could result in powering downthe in-vehicle module 34 and thus in loss of wireless connectivitybetween the in-vehicle module 34 and the other module. This too couldreasonably justify a conclusion that the video camera may be used atthat location to record video, as it may represent a scenario where thevehicle stops and is turned off to allow the videographer to exit thevehicle and record video.

Still further, the wireless communication modules could be provided inother arrangements such that their loss of wireless connectivity mayreasonably represent the possibility that the video camera is being usedto capture video, without necessarily involving a motor vehicle. Forinstance, one wireless communication module could be provided atequipment associated with storage or transport of the video camera, suchas at a carrying case or docking station, and the other wirelesscommunication module could be provided at equipment associated with useof the video camera, such as at the video camera itself or at a tripodor the like. That way, moving the equipment that is associated with useof the video camera sufficiently far away from the equipment that isassociated with storage or transport of the video camera could justify aconclusion that the video camera may be used to record video. Otherexamples are possible as well.

Further, note that mere loss of wireless pairing between the wirelesscommunication modules 24 and 26 may not necessarily mean that the videocamera is being used at that location to capture video. There could belocations where the modules lose their wireless pairing but where thevideo camera is not used to capture video. For instance, in the examplearrangement where one module is in a vehicle that transports the videocamera and videographer and the other module is in a cell phone carriedby the videographer, there could of course be locations where thevideographer exits and moves away from the vehicle for a lunch break, atthe end of a day, or at another time when the videographer does notremove the camera and/or does not use the camera to record video.Further, in the example arrangement where one module is in the vehicleand the other module is in the video camera, there could be locationswhere the video camera is taken away from the vehicle for reasons otherthan to record video, such as for maintenance or storage. Nevertheless,locations where the two modules lose their wireless pairing may beconsidered at least “possible” or “candidate” video-capture locations,on grounds that there is a reasonable possibility that at such locationsthe video camera may be used to capture video.

In accordance with the present disclosure, computing system 16 may thusfunction to determine locations where these wireless communicationmodules lose wireless connectivity with each other, and to treat thoselocations as candidate capture-locations for a video captured by thevideo camera 12. In particular, the computing system may determine aplurality of such candidate locations for a designated time period, suchas a day or other period of time when the videographer was travelingfrom location to location, and the computing system may then prompt auser to select one of the determined locations as a capture location fora video captured by the video camera. In turn, the computing system maythen record the selected location as capture-location metadata for thevideo.

As such, FIG. 1 conceptually illustrates the computing system 16 asincluding a wireless-connectivity-loss location monitor 44, a locationselector 46, and a metadata recorder 48, which could be provided asseparate or integrated modules by at least one programmed processor orin another form. In this arrangement, the wireless-connectivity-losslocation monitor 44 functions to determine locations where the firstwireless communication module 24 and the second wireless communicationmodule 26 have lost wireless connectivity with each other. The locationselector 46 then functions to provide a location-selection promptspecifying locations corresponding with the determined locations wherethe modules lost wireless connectivity, and to receive inputrepresenting user selection of one of the specified locations as acapture location of a video captured by the video camera. Further, themetadata recorder 48 functions to record the selected location as acapture location of the captured video, such as by recordingcorresponding location data in the video or video file or in a databaserelationship with the video.

FIG. 3 is next a flow chart depicting functions that can be carried outby a computing system such as this, to identify and record capturelocation of a video captured by the video camera in accordance with anexample implementation of the present method.

As shown in FIG. 3, at step 50, the computing system determines aplurality of locations where a first wireless communication module and asecond wireless communication module have lost wireless connectivitywith each other. At step 52, the computing system then outputs alocation-selection prompt specifying the determined plurality oflocations as candidate capture-locations for a video captured by a videocamera. At step 54, the computing system then receives, in response tothe location-selection prompt, data that represents a user selection ofone of the specified locations. In turn, at step 56, the computingsystem then records the selected location as capture-location metadatafor the captured video.

In this method, the step of determining the plurality of locations wherethe first wireless communication module and second wirelesscommunication module have lost wireless connectivity with each othercould be carried out by a portion of the computing system thatincorporates or is interconnected with or otherwise associated with oneof the wireless communication modules.

For instance, the computing system may include a computing device, suchas a portable computer or cell phone, having one of the wirelesscommunication modules as an integrated component such as an integratedBLUETOOTH radio for instance, and further having alocation-determination module such as a Global Positioning System (GPS)module or the like. Such a computing device could then include astandard network management function that manages and monitors thedevice's wireless connection status, such as its BLUETOOTH connections.Further, the computing device could be configured or programmed towirelessly pair with the other wireless communication module, based onan identity of the other wireless communication module. For purposes ofthe present method, the computing device may then further be programmedto detect instances when its wireless pairing with the other wirelesscommunication module is lost, and at each such instance to determine andrecord its geographic location, such as its latitude/longitudecoordinates, along with a timestamp. Thus, the computing device, as partof the computing system, would establish a record of geographiclocations where the first wireless communication device has lostwireless connectivity with the second wireless communication device.

Alternatively or additionally, the step of determining the plurality oflocations where the wireless communication modules have lost wirelessconnectivity with each other may involve receiving location data thatindicates the plurality of locations where the wireless communicationmodules have lost wireless connectivity with each other and reading thereceived location data to determine the plurality of locations. Inpractice, for instance, a computing device that is integrated with orthat accompanies one of the wireless communication modules may beconfigured to detect each such instance of loss of wirelessconnectivity, to responsively determine its geographic location for eachsuch instance, and to report the determined locations and correspondingtimestamps to a separate computing device that is part of the computingsystem. By way of example, a cell phone carried by the videographer maydetect each such instance and determine its geographic locationcorresponding to each such instance, and may report the determinedgeographic locations with timestamps to a remote server, such as anewsroom server for instance. That remote server may then read thereported location data to determine the locations where the wirelesscommunication modules lost wireless connectivity with each other.

In turn, the steps of outputting the location-selection promptspecifying the determined plurality of locations as candidatecapture-locations for a video captured by a video camera and receivingin response to the location-selection prompt the data representing userselection of one of the specified locations could involve interactionwith the videographer or another user. For instance, this could occurwhen the videographer or another user is reviewing video footagecaptured by the camera, such as in the field or at a newsroom. At thattime, the user could enter into the computing system a relevant timerange, or the computing system could automatically select a relevanttime range, such as the past day or week for instance, and the computingsystem may then present the user with a prompt specifying locationsrepresenting the locations where the wireless communication modules weredeemed to have lost wireless connectivity with each other in that timeperiod.

In practice, the computing system may interact with the user through agraphical user interface, such as through an Hypertext Markup Language(HTML) interface for instance. Through that interface, the computingsystem may output a representation of the video captured by the videocamera and may allow a user to view and select all or a portion of thevideo as the video recording at issue. For instance, the interface mayincorporate a media player that plays the captured video and may includecontrols selectable by the user to cause the computing system to playdesignated portions of the video and to receive user input demarcatingstart and end points defining the video recording at issue. Further,through the interface, the computing system may prompt the user todesignate a relevant time period for consideration of candidatelocations, such as by presenting a calendar and/or clock object throughwhich the user can designate beginning and end times for the time periodat issue. The computing system may then present on the interface theprompt specifying the locations representing determined locations wherethe wireless communication modules lost wireless connectivity with eachother in that time period and may receive the user selection of one ofthe specified locations.

Optimally, the location prompt will specify the locations in a mannerthat is readily understandable by the user, rather than as geographiclocation coordinates. Thus, if the computing system has stored the setof locations as latitude/longitude coordinates, the computing system mayrefer to mapping data to programmatically translate those locationcoordinates into a more user-understandable form. By way of example, thecomputing system could translate the location coordinates into agraphical map of a region with pin-markers, balloons, or other graphicalobjects illustrating the various determined locations on the map, andthe computing system may present the resulting map graphic as agraphical user interface and receive input representing user clicking orother selection of one of the illustrated locations. Further, as anotherexample, the computing system could translate the location coordinatesto city and street addresses, names of points of interest, or otheruser-understandable form and could present a drop-down list from whichthe user could then readily select one of the specified locations.

Once the computing system thus receives from the user a selection of oneof the specified locations, the computing system may then record theselected location as capture-location metadata for the video recordingat issue. As noted above, the computing system may do this in variousways. By way of example, the computing system may record the selectedlocation as capture-location metadata within a file representing thevideo itself, or separately but in a database relationship with thevideo. For instance, the computing system may store a data filerepresenting the video recording at issue and may write to a header orother portion of that data file a specification of the selected locationas a capture location of the video. Alternatively or additionally, thecomputing system may store a data file representing the video recordingat issue and may write to a database a relationship between that datafile and the capture location. In either case, recording the capturelocation of the video may then allow subsequent searching for the videobased on the recorded capture location.

As noted above, the computing system that carries out these functionscould be provided as a single computing device or distributed amongmultiple devices. Further, part or all of the computing system could beco-located with the video camera and videographer or could be providedremotely, possibly accessible over a web interface or the like.

In one example implementation, for instance, the computing system couldbe provided fully in the form of one or more computing devices local tothe videographer and the video camera. For instance, the videographermay have a cell phone that the videographer keeps in his or her pocketand perhaps a portable computer (e.g., computer server) such as anotebook computer or tablet computer that the videographer brings withto news locations, and the cell phone and portable computer may beprogrammed to run one or more applications that cause them to carry outfunctions described herein. Further, the cell phone, portable computer,and video camera may be configured to communicate with each otherthrough wired and/or wireless links in accordance with any agreedprotocol.

In that arrangement, the videographer's cell phone may be configured towirelessly pair with an in-vehicle wireless communication module and mayrun a program application that causes the cell phone to determine andrecord its geographic location each time the cell phone loses itswireless pairing with the in-vehicle wireless communication module.Further, the cell phone may transmit to the portable computer locationdata representing those determined locations and correspondingtimestamps, and a program application running on the computer mayreceive and record the reported locations and timestamps.

In addition, the videographer's cell phone and/or portable computer mayreceive from the video camera video data representing a video capturedby the video camera. For instance, through communication with the videocamera, the cell phone and/or portable computer may receive a data filerepresenting the captured video or may receive a real-time video streamas the video camera captures video. The cell phone and/or portablecomputer may then present the video to a user via a display screen,receive user selection of all or a portion of the video, and record indata storage the selected video as the captured video at issue.

Still further, the cell phone and/or portable computer may receive fromthe user a designation of a relevant time period and may present to theuser a location-selection prompt specifying the locations representingdetermined locations where the wireless communication modules lostwireless connectivity with each other in that time period and receivefrom the user a selection of one of the specified locations as capturelocation for the video at issue. In turn, the cell phone and/or portablecomputer may then record the selected location as capture-locationmetadata for the video, and/or may transmit to another computing devicedata that correlates the capture location with the video.

In another example implementation, illustrated by FIG. 4, the computingsystem could include a remote server 58, such as a newsroom server, asupplemental device such as a cell phone 60 or other computing devicecarried by the videographer, and a portable computer 62 that thevideographer uses in the field to interact with the remote server.

In that arrangement, the cell phone may be configured to wirelessly pairwith an in-vehicle wireless communication module and may run a programapplication that causes the cell phone to determine and record itsgeographic location each time the cell phone loses its wireless pairingwith the in-vehicle wireless communication module. At some point afterthe videographer uses the video camera to capture video, thevideographer may then use the portable computer to log into the remoteserver and, through a web interface or other interface provided by theremote server, to upload the resulting video data to the remote server.Further, the remote server may obtain from the cell phone the locationdata representing the determined locations where the wirelesscommunication modules lost wireless connectivity with each other and maycarry out other functions described herein, including providing thelocation-prompt, receiving user selection of a capture location, andrecording the selected location as capture-metadata for a designatedvideo recorded by the video camera.

In this scenario, when the videographer (as operator of the videocamera) logs into the remote server, the remote server may determine anidentity of the videographer based on that login, such as based on ausername provided by the videographer, and the remote server may thenprogrammatically correlate that videographer identity with an identityof the videographer's cell phone, such as a phone number or otheraddress at which the server can remotely access the cell phone.

The remote server may then establish a communication with thatparticular cell phone, or make use of established communication withthat particular cell phone, and request and receive from the cell phonea report of the determined locations of lost wireless connectivity. Forinstance, the remote server may communicate with the cell phone throughan existing data session that the server has with the cell phone, or theremote server may communicate with the cell phone in other ways, such asby Short Message Service messaging (e.g., Wireless Application Protocolpush messaging), and may programmatically transmit to the cell phone arequest for the location data representing the determined locations oflost wireless connectivity and receive from the cell phone, in responseto the request, the location data. Through this process, the cell phonemay be considered the device that determines the locations of lostwireless connectivity. Alternatively, the remote server may beconsidered the device that determines the locations of lost wirelessconnectivity, by receiving the location-data that specifies thelocations and reading that received data.

Further, through the web interface or other interface that the remoteserver has with the videographer, the remote server may output forpresentation to the videographer the uploaded video and receive from thevideographer a selection of all or part of the video as the video atissue and of a relevant time period.

In addition, through the interface, the remote server may output forpresentation to the videographer a location-selection prompt specifyinglocations representing the locations of lost wireless connectivitydetermined for that time period, and receive from the videographer aselection of at least one of the specified locations as a capturelocation of the video at issue. In practice, this output of thelocation-selection prompt could be output of an HTML page or the likethat defines the prompt, and the videographer's portable computer mayrender that page for presentation to the videographer. Throughinteraction with that rendered page, the videographer may then selectone of the specified locations, and the portable computer mayresponsively transmit to the remote server, in an HTTP POST message forinstance, data that represents the user selected capture location.

In turn, the remote server may then record the selected location ascapture-location metadata for the video at issue. In particular, theremote server may record the selected location as capture-locationmetadata in a video file representing the video at issue, and/or theremote server may record the selected location as capture-locationmetadata in a database relationship with such a video file.

FIG. 5 is next another flow chart depicting functions that can becarried out in accordance with an example implementation, to identifyand record capture location of a video captured by the video camera.Although various steps are shown in a particular order in this figure,it will be understood that variations are possible. For instance,certain steps could be carried out in different order or in parallelwith other steps.

As shown in FIG. 5, at step 64, a computing system receives video datarepresenting video captured by a video camera operated by avideographer. Further, at step 66, the computing system receives, from afirst device associated with the videographer, such as a cell phone orother device registered to and thus likely to be carried by thevideographer, a set of location data that specifies a plurality oflocations where the first device lost wireless connectivity with asecond device.

In line with the discussion above, for instance, the computing systemmay receive the video data through a first communication session withthe videographer, such as through a communication session with aportable computer operated by the videographer. Responsive to that firstcommunication session being with the videographer, the computing systemmay then determine which first device is associated with thevideographer and may establish a second communication session with thedetermined first device and receive the location data from the firstdevice through that established second communication session.

At step 68, the computing system then outputs a location-selectionprompt specifying the determined locations, to allow user selection ofone of the determined locations as a capture location of the receivedvideo. Further, at step 70, the computing system receives, in responseto the location-selection prompt, data representing user selection ofone of the locations specified by the location-selection prompt.

For instance, again in line with the discussion above, the computingsystem may output the location-selection prompt in the firstcommunication session with the videographer. Further, the computingsystem may then receive in the first communication session the datarepresenting the user selection of one of the locations specified by thelocation-selection prompt.

At step 72, the computing system then records the selected location ascapture-location metadata for the received video data, such as byrecording the selected location as capture-location metadata in thevideo data and/or by recording the selected location as capture-locationmetadata separate from the video data but in a database relationshipwith the video data.

Finally, FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram depicting components of anexample computing system operable to carry out the present method. Asshown in the figure, the example computing system includes one or moreprocessors 74, one or more data storage units 76, and one or moreinput/output modules 78, all of which may be communicatively linkedtogether by a system bus, network, and/or other connection mechanism 80.

Processor(s) 74 may comprise one or more general purpose processors(e.g., microprocessors) and/or one or more special purpose processors(e.g., application specific integrated circuits). Data storage unit(s)76 may then comprise one or more volatile and/or non-volatile storageunits, such as magnetic, optical, or flash storage, and may beintegrated in whole or in part with processor(s) 74. Further,input/output module(s) 78 may comprise one or more user interfacemodules for providing output to a user and receiving input from a user,and/or one or more communication interface modules such as wireless orwired network communication interfaces to facilitate communication withone or more other devices as described above.

As shown, data storage unit(s) 76 hold video data 20 and metadata 22 asdiscussed above. Further, data storage unit(s) hold program instructions82, which are executable by processor(s) 74 to carry out variousfunctions described herein. For instance, the program instructions maybe executable by the processor(s) to (i) determine a plurality oflocations where a first wireless communication module and a secondwireless communication module have lost wireless connectivity with eachother, (ii) output a location-selection prompt specifying the determinedplurality of locations as candidate capture-locations for a videocaptured by the video camera, (iii) receive, in response to thelocation-selection prompt, data that represents a user selection of oneof the specified locations, and (iv) record the selected location ascapture-location metadata for the captured video.

Exemplary embodiments have been described above. Those skilled in theart will understand, however, that changes and modifications may be madeto these embodiments without departing from the true scope and spirit ofthe invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: determining by a computingsystem a plurality of locations where a first wireless communicationmodule and a second wireless communication module have lost wirelessconnectivity with each other, wherein the computing system comprises atleast one processor; outputting by the computing system alocation-selection prompt specifying the determined plurality oflocations as candidate capture-locations for a video captured by a videocamera; receiving by the computing system, in response to thelocation-selection prompt, data that represents a user selection of oneof the specified locations; and recording by the computing system theselected location as capture-location metadata for the captured video.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first wireless communicationmodule is disposed in a motor vehicle that transports the video camera,and wherein the second wireless communication module is disposed in acomputing device selected from the group consisting of (i) the videocamera and (ii) a supplemental device associated with a videographer whooperates the video camera.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the motorvehicle is a news vehicle, and wherein the captured video is news video.4. The method of claim 2, wherein the computing device is a cell phoneassociated with the videographer.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein thecomputing system comprises the computing device, wherein determining theplurality of locations comprises the computing device determining theplurality of locations.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the computingsystem further comprises a server, the method further comprising:receiving, by the server, video data representing the video captured bythe video camera; and receiving, by the server, from the computingdevice, location data representing the plurality of determinedlocations, wherein outputting by the computing system thelocation-selection prompt comprises the server outputting thelocation-selection prompt, wherein receiving by the computing system thedata that represents the user selection of one of the specifiedcapture-locations comprises the server receiving the data thatrepresents the user selection of one of the specified capture locations,and wherein recording by the computing system the selected capturelocation as capture-location metadata for the captured video comprisesthe server recording by the computing system the selected capturelocation as capture-location metadata for the captured video.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, wherein the computing device is the supplementaldevice associated with a videographer who operates the video camera, themethod further comprising: identifying by the server the supplementaldevice, based on an identity of the operator of the video camera,wherein receiving by the server the location data representing theplurality of determined locations comprises (i) transmitting from theserver to the identified supplemental device a request for the locationdata and (ii) receiving by the server from the identified supplementaldevice, in response to the request, the location data.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein determining by a computing system the plurality oflocations where the first wireless communication module and the secondwireless communication module have lost wireless connectivity with eachother comprises: detecting instances of the first wireless communicationmodule and the second wireless communication module losing direct,peer-to-peer wireless connectivity with each other; and for eachinstance, determining as a respective one of the plurality of locationsa geographic location corresponding with at least one of the firstwireless communication module and the second wireless communicationmodule.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the plurality oflocations comprises: receiving location data specifying the plurality oflocations where the first wireless communication module and the secondwireless communication module have lost wireless connectivity with eachother; and reading the plurality of locations from the received locationdata.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving into thecomputing system video data representing the video captured by the videocamera, wherein recording by the computing system the selected locationas capture-location metadata for the captured video comprises a functionselected from the group consisting of (i) recording the selectedlocation as capture-location metadata in the video data and (ii)recording the selected location as capture-location metadata separatefrom the video data but in a database relationship with the video data.11. A method comprising: receiving, into a computing system, a videocaptured by a video camera operated by a videographer, wherein thecomputing system comprises at least one processor; receiving, into thecomputing system, from a first device associated with the videographer,a set of location data that specifies a plurality of locations where thefirst device lost wireless connectivity with a second device;outputting, by the computing system, a location-selection promptspecifying the plurality of locations, to allow user selection of one ofthe locations as a capture location of the received video; receiving, bythe computing system, in response to the location-selection prompt, auser selection of one of the locations specified by thelocation-selection prompt; and recording, by the computing system, theselected location as capture-location metadata for the received video.12. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the video comprisesreceiving the video through a first communication session with thevideographer, and wherein receiving the location data from the firstdevice associated the videographer comprises: responsive to the firstcommunication session being with the videographer, (i) identifying thefirst device associated with the videographer, and (ii) based on theidentifying, establishing a second communication session with the firstdevice; and receiving the location data from the first device throughthe established second communication session.
 13. The method of claim12, wherein outputting the location-selection prompt comprisesoutputting the location-selection prompt in the first communicationsession, and wherein receiving the user selection of one of thelocations specified by the location-selection prompt comprises receivingin the first communication session data representing the user selectionof one of the locations specified by the location-selection prompt. 14.The method of claim 12, wherein the first device is a cell phone. 15.The method of claim 14, wherein the second device is a wirelesscommunication module disposed at a motor vehicle, wherein the cell phoneand wireless communication module wirelessly pair with each other whenthe cell phone and wireless communication module are sufficiently closeto each other, and wherein the plurality of locations comprise locationswhere the cell phone moved so far away from the motor vehicle that thecell phone and wireless communication module lost wireless pairing witheach other.
 16. The method of claim 11, further comprising storing bythe computing system the video as a digital video file, whereinrecording, by the computing system, the selected location ascapture-location metadata for the received video data comprises afunction selected from the group consisting of (i) recording theselected location as capture-location metadata in the digital video fileand (ii) recording the selected location as capture-location metadataseparate from the digital video file but in a database relationship withthe digital video file.
 17. A computing system comprising: at least oneprocessor; at least one data storage; and program instructions stored inthe at least one data storage and executable by the at least oneprocessor to carry out functions comprising: determining a plurality oflocations where a first wireless communication module and a secondwireless communication module have lost wireless connectivity with eachother; outputting a location-selection prompt specifying the determinedplurality of locations as candidate capture-locations for a videocaptured by a video camera; receiving, in response to thelocation-selection prompt, data that represents a user selection of oneof the specified locations; and recording the selected location ascapture-location metadata for the captured video.
 18. The computingsystem of claim 17, wherein the computing system comprises asupplemental device separate from the video camera, wherein thesupplemental device includes the first wireless communication module,and wherein determining the plurality of locations where the firstwireless communication module and the second wireless communicationmodule have lost wireless connectivity with each other comprises thesupplemental device determining the plurality of locations.
 19. Thecomputing system of claim 18, wherein the supplemental device comprisesa cell phone associated with a videographer who operates the videocamera, and wherein the computing system further comprises a newsroomserver separate from the video camera and separate from the supplementaldevice, wherein the newsroom server determines an identity of the cellphone based on an identity of the videographer, wherein the newsroomserver establishes communication with the identified cell phone andreceives, through the communication, location data representing thedetermined plurality of locations, wherein the newsroom server receivesvideo data representing the captured video, and wherein the newsroomserver provides the location-selection prompt, receives the datarepresenting the user selection of one of the specified locations, andrecords the selected location as the capture-location metadata for thevideo.
 20. The computing system of claim 17, wherein recording theselected location as the capture-location metadata for the receivedvideo data comprises a function selected from the group consisting of(i) recording the selected location as capture-location metadata in thevideo data and (ii) recording the selected location as capture-locationmetadata separate from the video data but in a database relationshipwith the video data.